Flying the Flag: The 100th Edition of the Tour de France

With less than a week before the start of the 100th edition of Le Grande Boucle, there is a group of excited riders who will proudly be donning new spangly kit after winning their national championship

There isn’t enough screen space on the interweb superhighway to fully describe all of the reasons that people look forward to the start of each new edition of the Tour de France, and for many a great reason to get excited is to see so many of the newly crowned national champions racing together. And as a self-confessed ‘kit bitch’ I get very excited by seeing the new colours and designs of kits that trickle through the peloton. [Ed. – Can I say ‘bitch’ on LTB!?!? Ah nuts! That’s twice!]

Men’s RR champion 2013-2014

Womens’s RR champion 2013-2014

Australia

Luke Durbridge (Orica-Greenedge)*

Gracie Elvin (Orica-AIS)*

Austria

Riccardo Zoidl (Gourmetfein Simplon)

Andrea Graus (Team Vienne Futuroscope)

Belgium

Stijn Devolder (Radioshack-Leopard)

Liesbet De Vocht (Rabobank-Liv Giant)

Belarus

Andrei Krasilnikau

Alena Amialiusik

Canada

Zach Bell (Champion System)

Joelle Numainville (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies)

Colombia

Walter Pedraza

-

Croatia

Robert Kišerlovski (Radioshack-Leopard)

-

Czech

Jan Barta (Netapp-Endura)

Martina Sáblíková (Etixx-IHNED)

Denmark

Michael Mørkøv (Team Saxo-Tinkoff)

Kamilla Sofie Vallin (Team Rytger)

Eritrea

Meron Teshome

Wehazit Kidane

Estonia

Rein Taaramae (Cofidis)

Liisi Rist

Finland

-

-

France

Arthur Vichot (FDJ.fr)

Elise Delzenne

Germany

André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol)

Trixi Worrack (Specialized-Lululemon)

Great Britain

Mark Cavendish (OPQS)

Lizzie Armitstead (Dolmans Boels)

Greece

Ioannis Tamouridis (Euskaltel-Euskadi)

-

Hungary

Krisztián Lovassy (Utensilnord)

Diána Szurominé Pulsfort

Ireland

Matthew Brammeier (Champion System)

Melanie Späth (Team Tibco)

Italy

Ivan Santaromita (BMC Racing)

Dalia Muccioli (BePink)

Japan

Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar)

Eri Yonamine (Team Forza)

Kazakhstan

Alexander Dyachenko (Astana)

-

Latvia

Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM Cycling)

-

Lithuania

Tomas Vaitkus (Orica-Greenedge)

Agne Silinyte (Pasta Zara-Cogeas-Manhattan)

Luxembourg

Bob Jungels (Radioshack-Leopard)

Christine Majerus

Netherlands

Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM)

Lucinda Brand (Rabobank-Liv Giant)

New Zealand

Hayden Roulston (Radioshack-Leopard)*

Courteney Lowe (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) *

Norway

Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing)

Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen (Hitec Products)

Poland

Michał Kwiatkowski (OPQS)

Eugenia Bujak

Portugal

Joni Brandao (Efapel)

-

Russia

Vladimir Isaichev (Katusha)

Svetlana Stolbova

Rwanda

Gasore Hategeka

-

Slovakia

Peter Sagan (Cannondale)

Alzbeta Pavlendova

Slovenia

Luka Pibernik (Radenska)

Polona Batagelj (Polet)

South Africa

Jay Thomson (MTN-Qhubeka) *

Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (Lotto-Belisol) *

Spain

Jesus Herrada (Movistar)

Ane Santesteban Gonzalez (Bizkaia-Durango)

Sweden

Michael Olsson (Team People4you)

Emilia Fahlin (Hitec Products)

Switzerland

Michael Schär (BMC Racing)

Doris Schweizer

Turkey

Nazım Bakırcı (Torku seker Spor)

-

Ukraine

Denys Kostyuk (Kolss)

Lelizaveta Oshurkova

USA

Fred Rodriguez (Jelly Belly)*

Jade Wilcoxson (Optum – Kelly Benefit Strategies)*

Venezuela

Eduin Becerra

Danielys García

* result from earlier in the year.

There are some particularly exciting new national champions in that list. Mark Cavendish, Johnny Hoogerland, Arthur Vichot and Jan Barta…all riders who ordinarily have it cranked up to 11 will be eager to please the crowds in their flashy new national colours, and where better to do that than at the Tour. There’s sure to be some purdy designs too, and the first week of Tour commentary is usually centered around the good, the bad and the ugly!

Let us know what you think about the new champs over the coming weeks and enjoy the Tour, whether you are there in person or glued to the television.

My question is other than juice, can you suggest modifications in lieu of table sugar for energy and hydration.

Answer:

Both raw/organic honey or agave can work great in the homebrew (substitute in the same quantities for the sugar, or to taste), but you do have to shake well in order to make sure they don’t settle out. Have you tried either of these? Also, make sure to use at least the minimum amount of salt recommended in the homebrew as the temps rise, you need the sodium replacement if you’re sweating.